The 50 Best summer reads

The 50 Best summer reads

1/50

Skios by Michael Frayn

Faber and Faber, £15.99

A contemporary Greek drama unfolds on the island of Skios when a case of mistaken identity threatens to expose the dubious foundations of a farcical hifalutin' intellectual organisation. Nothing and no one escapes Frayn's eager satire in this wonderfully executed highbrow beach read. Sustaining comic writing this funny is epic in itself.

2/50

Heft by Liz Moore

Hutchinson, £9.99

A touching study of love and loneliness across the generations, set in Brooklyn and the lesser-known New York district of Yonkers. Moore makes sympathetic characters out of her loner protagonists: a housebound academic; his former student, now an alcoholic; and her baseball-playing son, each hoping for redemption from their isolated existences.

3/50

The Server by Tim Parks

Harvill Secker, £16.99

Beth is caught tight in the grip of a strict meditation retreat, trying to absolve herself of past sins. Parks is engaging, persistent, lyrical and entertaining as Beth decides whether to give into her own identity, or to that of the institute where she is staying.

4/50

Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel

4th Estate, £20

"Bloody, intricate and all in period costume, the follow-up to Wolf Hall takes you back to the Tudors and keeps you there, more or less mesmerised," says Will. "A bit like Game Of Thrones without the terrible writing, bad acting and unremitting misanthrophy."

5/50

The Pale King by David Foster Wallace

Penguin, £9.99

"Difficult, complicated, dull, far too long, set in a tax office and quite brilliant," says Will. "David Foster Wallace's posthumous masterpiece needs at least a whole summer. Alienating, but in the best possible way, and also very funny. Just reissued in paperback, with four new chapters."

6/50

Earthly Powers by Anthony Burgess

Vintage Classic, £10.99

"An unjustly forgotten epic," says Will. "Earthly Powers takes in the whole of the 20th century through the adventures of its 81-year-old hero Kenneth Toomey."

7/50

Let It Come Down by Paul Bowles

Penguin, £14

"If you're on holiday, then the adventures of a hapless tourist through the seedy underworld of Tangier are just what you need," says Will.

8/50

Adventures in Form edited by Tom Chivers

Penned in the Margins, £9.99

"Ninety poems by 46 leading poets working in all forms and with great ingenuity," explains Will. "Full of things to divert, entertain and provoke."

49/50

A great read, and important:a treatise on the history of food
anchored by the importance of eating, together, food that you like,
around a table.

50/50

On the Front Line: The Collected Journalism of Marie Colvin

Harper Press, £16.99

Colvin was killed in February. Her work is a reminder that we
should all value the method in the madness of war reporters.

The experts:

Rebecca Armstrong is the features editor of The Independent and i. Here she selects the best crime fiction and thrillers

Joe Craig is a novelist and screenwriter,author of the best-selling Jimmy Coates adventures for eight to 13-year-olds. Find him at joecraig.co.uk and @joecraiguk

Will Carr is deputy director of the International Anthony Burgess Foundation (anthonyburgess.org). 2012 is the 50th anniversary of the publication of 'A Clockwork Orange'

Brett Wolstencroft is the manager of Daunt Books' flagship store in Marylebone (dauntbooks.co.uk)

Fiction

Skios by Michael Frayn

Faber and Faber, £15.99

A contemporary Greek drama unfolds on the island of Skios when a case of mistaken identity threatens to expose the dubious foundations of a farcical hifalutin' intellectual organisation. Nothing and no one escapes Frayn's eager satire in this wonderfully executed highbrow beach read. Sustaining comic writing this funny is epic in itself.

Heft by Liz Moore

Hutchinson, £9.99

A touching study of love and loneliness across the generations, set in Brooklyn and the lesser-known New York district of Yonkers. Moore makes sympathetic characters out of her loner protagonists: a housebound academic; his former student, now an alcoholic; and her baseball-playing son, each hoping for redemption from their isolated existences.

The Server by Tim Parks

Harvill Secker, £16.99

Beth is caught tight in the grip of a strict meditation retreat, trying to absolve herself of past sins. Parks is engaging, persistent, lyrical and entertaining as Beth decides whether to give into her own identity, or to that of the institute where she is staying.

Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel

4th Estate, £20

"Bloody, intricate and all in period costume, the follow-up to Wolf Hall takes you back to the Tudors and keeps you there, more or less mesmerised," says Will. "A bit like Game Of Thrones without the terrible writing, bad acting and unremitting misanthrophy."

The Pale King by David Foster Wallace

Penguin, £9.99

"Difficult, complicated, dull, far too long, set in a tax office and quite brilliant," says Will. "David Foster Wallace's posthumous masterpiece needs at least a whole summer. Alienating, but in the best possible way, and also very funny. Just reissued in paperback, with four new chapters."

Earthly Powers by Anthony Burgess

Vintage Classic, £10.99

"An unjustly forgotten epic," says Will. "Earthly Powers takes in the whole of the 20th century through the adventures of its 81-year-old hero Kenneth Toomey."

Let It Come Down by Paul Bowles

Penguin, £14

"If you're on holiday, then the adventures of a hapless tourist through the seedy underworld of Tangier are just what you need," says Will.

Adventures in Form edited by Tom Chivers

Penned in the Margins, £9.99

"Ninety poems by 46 leading poets working in all forms and with great ingenuity," explains Will. "Full of things to divert, entertain and provoke."

A great read, and important:a treatise on the history of food anchored by the importance of eating, together, food that you like, around a table.

On the Front Line: The Collected Journalism of Marie Colvin

Harper Press, £16.99

Colvin was killed in February. Her work is a reminder that we should all value the method in the madness of war reporters.

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